Device for cooling or keeping cool a beverage container



K97 A. M. STONER ETAL ,OA

DEVICE FOR COOLING OR KEEPING COOL A BEVERAGE CONTAINER Filed Aug. 9, 1965 3 Sheets-Sheet 1 FehV, 167 A. M. STONER ETAL ilkii DEVICE FOR COOLING 0R KEEPING COOL A BEVERAGE CONTAINER Filed Aug. 9, 1965 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 J' lzg 5 3 Feb 1967 A. M- STONER ETAL 3,3U2A2 DEVICE FOR COOLING OR KEEPING COOL A BEVERAGE CONTAINER Filed Aug. 9, 1965 3 Sheets-Sheet 5 United States Patent 3,302,428 DEVICE FOR COOLING 0R KEEPING COOL A BEVERAGE CONTAINER Arthur M. Stoner and Roger L. Paquin, both of Madison,

Conn., assignors to Aldco, Incorporated, Clinton, Comm, a corporation of Connecticut Filed Aug. 9, 1965, Ser. No. 478,219 8 Claims. (Cl. 62-457) This invention relates to a device for cooling or keeping cool a can or bottle of liquid.

Many beverages, including beer, soft drinks, and fruit juices, are not only sold in cans or bottles but are drunk directly from the can or bottle. From-the-can (or bottle) consumption saves washing glasses or using disposable cups, and many people prefer it. One cannot, however, cool such drinks by adding ice to them; so the cans or bottles are normally cooled by placing them in a refrigerator for several hours. For parties and on many other occasions, there may not be enough space to put all the cans or bottles needed into the refrigerator. Moreover, it is often desirable to be able to cool a roomtemperature can or bottle and drink its contents on short notice, without having to wait several hours for it to become cool enough for consumption.

Even when a can has been cooled in the refrigerator, it is desirable to provide some way of keeping the drink cool while it is being consumed, because cans warm up quickly through their conductive walls, drawing heat from the hand that holds them as well as from the atmosphere. Moreover, a cool can just taken out of the refrigerator is too cool to be held comfortably, because of the rapid heat transfer provided by its metal walls.

The present invention solves these problems by providing a cooling device which, in one form thereof, is especially adapted for use with cans. It can be used to cool a room-temperature beverage to a good drinking temperature right in the can, or it can be used to keep cool a refrigerated can of beverage. Moreover, the device provides a handle that is warm and does not feel cold to the touch, as does a cold can. Also, the device will cool or keep cool a drinking glass, and if desired, the liquid can be poured from the can or from a bottle into such a glass and the glass inserted in the device, and cooled or kept cool by it. The invention enables service to those people who do not like to drink directly from the can with the same equipment that is used by the people who prefer drinking from the can and with the same advantage of keeping the drink cool for a long time.

Another form of the invention provides a cooling device capable of use with flaring bottles.

In all forms of the invention the cooling device includes a double-walled container of special structure; sealed between its walls is a liquid which, before use, is frozen in a suitable freezer. A handle attached to the double-walled container by novel structure enables one to treat the device as a mug while also enabling one to hold the cold drink without getting ones hands cold.

For a cooling device of this type to work elficiently, a large cooling area should make snug contact with the can or bottle to be cooled, and this presented problems. Typical cans have chines or seams on their ends which are larger in diameter than the rest of the can; a can cannot be inserted into a cylinder that will snugly engage its walls, because the chines are too large for such insertion, and a cylinder large enough to accommodate the can chines or seams will not make contact with more than a small area on one side of the main can wall. Flaring bottles have walls that vary in size and will not contact a very large proportion of a straight wall. The present invention provides a cooling unit in which the chine of the 3,302,428 Patented Feb. 7, 1967 can can be forced down into the unit and can be accommodated at its lower end, while spring means forces nearly the entire area of the side walls of the can into contact with a wall of the cooling device; in this way, efficient heat transfer is achieved. Similarly, by proper shaping and by use of the spring means, flared-wall bottles can be efficient-ly cooled.

Other objects and advantages of the invention will appear from the following description of some preferred forms thereof.

In the drawings:

FIG. 1 is a view in perspective of a cooling device embodying the principles of the present invention, with a beverage can installed therein.

FIG. 2 is a top plan view of the empty device of FIG. 1, before insertion of the can.

FIG. 3 is a view in vertical section taken along the line 3-3 in FIG. 2, with the can in place.

FIG. 4 is a view in section, taken along the line 44 in FIG. 3.

FIG. 5 is a fragmentary view in side elevation of a portion of the upper edge of the capsule of FIGS. 1-4.

FIG. 6 is a view in section taken along the line 6-6 in FIG. 3, with the can removed.

FIG. 7 is a view taken along the line 7-7 in FIG. 3.

FIG. 8 is a fragmentary botton plan view of the central portion of the capsule.

FIG. 9 is a view in section, similar to FIG. 3, of a modified form of the invention showing a flared-wall bottle being cooled.

FIG. 10 is a view like FIG. 9 of the same device with the bottle removed.

The article of this invention includes a novel doublewalled cooling unit or capsule 10, preferably made from flexible plastic material, such as polypropylene or polyethylene. For example, the wall thickness may be about 0.03 inch. The unit or capsule 10 may conveniently be made from two plastic moldings, namely, 1) an inner shell 11 and (2) an outer shell 12 with a base plate 13. The two shells 11 and 12 are hermetically sealed together with a coolant liquid 14 inside, filling about of the interim space. The refrigerating liquid or coolant 14 is chosen according to the characteristics desired for a particular application, depending on the quantity of the material intended to be cooled, that is, the can size, and depending upon how long the drink is to be kept cool; the amount and type of liquid 14 may also be influenced by whether the capsule 10 is to be the sole agency for cooling the can, whether it is to be merely used for keeping an already cold beverage cool while it is being drunk, or

whether it is to be used for both purposes. A typical liquid 14 is a water solution of glycerin.

The inner shell 11 provides a generally cylindrical inner Wall 15 that is made from thin and suitably flexible plastic, preferably about 0.03 inch in thickness. The bore 15 is preferably molded to the same diameter as the beverage cans 20, which may be steel or aluminum. The upper end of the bore 15 has a flared, mostly frustoconical entry portion 16 and a generally horizontal lip 17. The conical lead-in portion 16 helps to guide a can into the bore 15 of the capsule 10. The inner shell 11 also provides a central seat 18 upon which the bottom wall 19 of the installed can 20 rests. The seat 18 is raised above the lower end of the wall \15, and its rim 21 is spaced radially inwardly from it, being joined to it by a web portion comprising a tapered wall 22 and an annular lower end 23, forming a well 24 around and below the seat 18. A Weir 25 to aid in filling the capsule 10 with the liquid 14 is provided across the well 24 .at one side thereof.

Diametrically opposite the weir 25, the wall 11 is formed to provide a corrugated wall segment comprising a generally semicircular spring 26 between two recesses 27 and 28. This combination of the spring 26 and recesses 27 and 28 enables the bore 15 of the plastic capsule '10 to expand, so that the chine or bottom bead 30 of the steel can 20 can pass down into the well 24.

In addition, this configuration has the unusual effect of shaping the frozen refrigerant 14, so that when the refrigerant 14 expands as the result of freezing, the capsule is forced slightly out of round. This expansion causes the diameter bisecting the spring 26 to become greater, like the major axis of an ellipse, while causing the di ameter perpendicular thereto to become less, like the minor axis of the ellipse. This change in shape serves to put the bore firmly in contact with the outside walls 31 of the can 20. This contact is particularly important when the can is first put into the capsule 10, for it is desirable to get the greatest possible heat transfer initially, so that if the capsule 10 is used for cooling beverages in a can 20 that is at roomtemperature when inserted, the time necessary for the cooling to take place is minimized. As the refrigerant 14 melts, it contracts and therefore the pressure resultnig from the expansion of the refrigerant and the distortion from the round condition of the capsule 10 are both reduced.

The spring 26 is especially important in maintaining good contact for heat transfer purposes between the bore 15 of the capsule 10 and the wall 31 of the can 20 being held. When the can 20 is inserted, the spring portion 26 is slightly flexed outwardly and serves to apply inward pressure that keeps the can wall 31 in contact with the bore 15 of the capsule 10 at all times.

The seat 18 provides an area clear of the bead or chine 30 for heat transfer between the bottom 19 of the can 20 and the refrigerant 14. It also provides enough distance from the head or chine 30 below it and around it to enable the inner shell 11 to flex to accommodate the head or chine 30 and to accommodate the distortion of the container bore 15 without breaking the plastic. If the inner shell 11 were anchored directly to the base plate 13 or otherwise made without the well 24, the distance would not be enough to enable deflection without excessive stresses in the plastic. Furthermore, the seat 18 and well 24 configuration provides clearance for a ridge on the surface of one style of aluminum can, so that the flat surface at the bottom 19 of that can will still be in contact with the supporting cooling surface 18.

The can cooling unit 10 is particularly effective and appreciated with aluminum cans, since the thin wall of aluminum cans has a much greater rate of heat transfer than do steel cans and will cool faster; also, without the device of this invention, aluminum cans tend to warm up faster.

The tapered wall 22 of the inner shell 11 encloses a space 32 underneath the seat 18. When the unit 10 is warm and is turned mount down, as it usually and preferably is when placed into a freezer, enough liquid 14 remains in the space 32 for a portion 31 to freeze there and remain next to the seat 18. The liquid 14 is thus distributed where it will be in the most effective position for cooling the can 20. As it thaws in use, it drips down, and this dripping fills the space 32 with the cold liquid 14, and the remaining frozen refrigerant or ice floats on the liquid, maintaining the position of the ice near the top of the double walled container where it is most effective in cooling the contents of the can 20 while they are being consumed.

Thus, summarizing about the inner shell 11, the bore '15 has the vertical recesses 27 and 28 and the springy portion 26 that flexes when the can 20 is inserted, holding approximately eighty-five percent of the inner wall 15 in contact with the wall 31 of the can 20; at the same time, the can bottom 19 is in contact with the supporting seat 18. At these contact areas, the thin plastic is all that separates the can 20 from the refrigerated liquid 14 inside the unit 10, so that the cooling takes place 4 through the walls 15 and 18 of the container 10 and the highly conductive metal walls 31 and 19 of the can.

The outer shell 12 has a generally cylindrical main side wall 33 with an upper flange 34 that is used for assembly of the capsule 10. The outer shell 12 may be made with the flange 34 initially somewhat wider than shown in the drawing. It mates with the flange or lip 17 of the inner shell 11, and these flanges 17 and 34 are then preferably sealed to each other by being spun together under pressure or heat welded. This spinning operation results in an extrusion of flash which is trimmed off to make a smooth edge. The upper portion of the wall 33 may have a series of spacing ribs 35 lead to the flange 34, both for strengthening and to provide spacing and insulation when the mug 60 is used. In addition, these ribs mesh with corresponding grooves in the tooling that is used for holding the outer container 33 stationary while the inner member 11 is turned within it for purposes of spin-welding the seal between the flanges.

The bottom plate portion 13 of the shell 12 is preferably recessed as at 40 and is provided with a central opening 41. From around the opening 41 a cylindrical projection or tubular support portion 42 extends upwardly and is provided with slots 43 that extend down from an upper edge 44. The inner shell 11 is preferably provided with an annular central groove defined by a pair of depending annular projections 46, 47. After assembly together of the shells 1 1 and 12 by the spinning operation of the flanges 34 and 17, the capsule 10 is filled to the desired amount with the refrigerant liquid 14 through the hole 41 in the bottom plate 13. Then a plug is inserted into the hole 41 and in spun-welded to the plate 13. The edge 44 of the projection 42 from the outer shell 12 lies within the groove 45 in the bottom of the inner shell 11, and during this second spin-welding operation, pressure is applied through the bottom 18 of the inner container 11 opposite the groove 45 to support the bottom 13 of the outer container 12. The support also helps the endurance of the completed capsule 10. The plug 50 preferably has a gear-like inner surface 51 that is engaged by a suitable driver extending from the spindle of the spin-welding machine. To assist in the filling, the three slots 43 provide passages through which the refrigerant fluid '14 flows into the double-walled container, and a groove 52 provided by the weir 25 enables the refrigerant fluid 14 to pass from the space 32 into the space between the walls 15 and 33 of the capsule 10.

By adjusting the amount of refrigerant fluid 14 in the double-walled container 10, the pressure applied between the bore 15 of the capsule 10 and the can 20 being held can be varied. In other words, if the double-walled space is filled, say 90% full, the amount of distortion from the round condition, discussed above, and the pressure resulting from the expansion due to the freezing of the refrigerant 14 beyond this point will cause the bore 15 of the capsule 10 to distort and buckle inwardly so that the can 20 cannot be inserted, and the use of less than an ideal amount of refrigerant 14 will reduce the pressure between the bore 15 of the capsule 10 and the diameter of the can 20 being held, so that the heat transfer is not as fast as that under optimum conditions. Also, the refrigerant fluid formula can be adjusted so as to make the frozen refrigerant solution softer, more snow-like, thus permitting easier insertion of the can.

In a preferred form of the invention, the refrigerant capsule 10 is slipped into an outer mug-like container which is amolded plastic cup or mug 61 with a handle 62. The mug 61 provides dead air space insulation around the capsule 10 and makes it convenient to use. The outer container 60 has a circular mouth or lip 63 that is sized to the flange 34 as it is after the spin-welding of the inner shell 11 to the outer shell 12. The dead air space 64 includes a small clearance 65 between the annular bottom portion 66 of the plate 13 and the bottom portion 67 of the outer container 60, so that when the beverage can 20 is pressed into the bore 15 of the inner sheil 11, only slight distortion of the capsule and of the outer container 60 occurs before the thrust load is divided between the flange 34 and the bottom 67 of the outer container 60.

An alternate construction is shown in FIGS. 9 and 10. The main difference is the shaping of its inner shell 70 to accommodate a desired bottle shape, such as the flared bottle 71. In addition to a lead-in portion 72, the shell 70 has a nearly vertical tapered portion 73 that gradually decreases in diameter toward its lower end, where it meets the radially inwardly extending wall 74 and the weir 75. The wall 74 and weir 75 lead to a rim 76 and the bottom supporting portion 77. Otherwise, the shell '70 is like the shell 11, with the well 24 and the spring 25, as shown in FIG. 10. As shown in FIG. 9, contact with the wall of the bottle 71 is achieved.

The device can, of course, be washed very readily even if the beverage is poured into it and it is used for drinking, and there is no need to get inside, i.e., in between the inner and outer shells, nor are there any places for food particles or drink particles to catch and render cleaning difflcult.

To those skilled in the art to which this invention relates, many changes in construction and widely differing embodiments and applications of the invention will suggest themselves without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention. The disclosures and the description herein are purely illustrative and are not intended to be in any sense limiting.

We claim:

1. A cooling device for use with cans, tumblers and bottles of beverage, including in combination:

a double walled container having an inner wall, an

outer wall, and a bottom plate,

said inner wall having a generally cylindrical shape able to conform to the shape of the can, tumbler or bottle with which it is intended to be used, said inner wall being of flexible plastic and having a cansupporting seat, said inner wall being integrally formed with a corrugated segment comprising a pair of radially outset recesses and with a springy wall portion between said recesses extending in further than the recesses extend out, for forcing the wall of a said can or bottle into contact with said bore, and

a refrigerant liquid in the space defined by said walls,

plate, and seat.

2. The device of claim 1 wherein said seat is spaced inwardly from said inner wall and connected thereto by an annular web lying below said seat.

3. The device of claim 2 having a weir diametrically opposite said springy wall portion, forming part of said annular web but at a higher level than most of said web.

4. The device of claim 1 wherein said inner wall has four successive portions, reading downwardly, from its upper end, namely, an upper conical lead-in portion, a succeeding nearly vertical gently tapering portion narrower at its bottom than at the top, next an outwardly flaring portion that is wider at its lower end than at its upper end, and finally a lower flaring portion that is nar- 6 rowed at its upper end, whereby said device can cool flared bottles.

5. A cooling device for use with cylindrical cans of beverage, including in combination:

a cup-like inner shell having a vertical generally cylindrical inner wall of flexible plastic integrally formed with a corrugated segment comprising a pair of radially outwardly extending recesses extending for substantially the full height of said inner wall, and a radially inwardly extending wall portion between said recesses and extending in further than they extend out, for forcing an inserted can into contact with said inner wall,

a cup-like outer shell having an outer wall joined at its upper end to said inner wall and having a bottom plate,

said inner shell having a can-supporting seat spaced above said bottom plate and inwardly from said inner wall and joined thereto below said seat, and

a refrigerant liquid in the space defined by said walls,

plate, and seat.

6. The device of claim 5 wherein said bottom plate has a central opening frame around which a cylindrical portion projects upwardly into contact with said seat, said cylindrical portion being provided with passage means for flow of liquid therethrough, and a closure cap closing said opening and sealed to said plate.

7. The device of claim 6 wherein said seat is provided with a pair of concentric depending annular beads defining an annular groove between them for sealing said cylindrical portion.

8. A cooling device for use with cylindrical cans of beverage, including in combination:

an inner wall of flexible plastic having a vertical cylindrical bore with an upper outwardly flared portion, a pair of vertical radially outset recesses and a vertically radially inset curved spring-like wall, all integral therewith,

a generally cylindrical outer wall joined at the top to said upper portion of said inner wall at a lip,

a bottom plate closing the lower end of said outer wall,

a can-supporting seat above said bottom plate spaced inwardly from said inner wall and joined thereto by a web portion lying below said seat and above said plate, thereby providing a well around said seat,

a refrigerant liquid in the space enclosed by said walls,

plate, and seat, and

a mug-like outer container having a cup portion with an upper edge engaging said lip and otherwise spaced from said outer wall to support it and provide a dead air space around it and having a handle.

References Cited by the Examiner UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,771,186 7/1930 Mock 62-53O X 2,039,736 5/1936 Munters et al. 62-457 2,926,508 3/1960 Moon 62-529 X 3,089,317 5/1963 Bufalini 62-457 3,205,677 9/1965 Stoner 62-457 3,205,678 9/1965 Stoner 62-457 LLOYD L. KING, Primary Examiner. 

1. A COOLING DEVICE FOR USE WITH CANS, TUMBLERS AND BOTTLES OF BEVERAGE, INCLUDING IN COMBINATION: A DOUBLE WALLED CONTAINER HAVING AN INNER WALL, AN OUTER WALL, AND A BOTTOM PLATE, SAID INNER WALL HAVING A GENERALLY CYLINDRICAL SHAPE ABLE TO CONFORM TO THE SHAPE OF THE CAN, TUMBLER OR BOTTLE WITH WHICH IT IS INTENDED TO BE USED, SAID INNER WALL BEING OF FLEXIBLE PLASTIC AND HAVING AN CANSUPPORTING SEAT, SAID INNER WALL BEING INTEGRALLY FORMED WITH A CORRUGATED SEGMENT COMPRISING A PAIR OF RADIALLY OUTSET RECESSES AND WITH A SPRINGY WALL PORTION BETWEEN SAID RECESSES EXTENDING IN FURTHER THAN THE RECESSES EXTEND OUT, FOR FORCING THE WALL OF A SAID CAN OR BOTTLE INTO CONTACT WITH SAID BORE, AND A REFRIGERANT LIQUID IN THE SPACE DEFINED BY SAID WALLS, PLATE, AND SEAT. 